Disposed¶23

Rekha Gupta v. Union Public Service Commission & Anr.

Delhi HC11 Feb 2026W.P.(C)/1710/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

W.P.(C) 1710/2026, High Court of Delhi, decided 11.02.2026 (Kshetarpal & Mahajan, JJ.). Keywords: UPSC; sealed cover; withholding of result; pendency of CAT Original Application; O.A. No. 4174/2023; order dated 29.12.2023; no stay on result declaration; direction to forthwith declare result; mandamus; certiorari; selected candidate; cancellation of candidature of Respondent No. 2; petition disposed.

What did the court decide?

Respondent No. 1 (UPSC) directed to forthwith declare the Petitioner's result; the writ petition along with the pending application (CM APPL. 8394/2026) disposed of. The earlier exemption application (CM APPL. 8393/2026) was allowed subject to all just exceptions. ¶23

Rekha Gupta Vs Union Public Service Commission & Anr. — Delhi HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶23

Issue for consideration

Whether the Petitioner's result could be kept in a sealed cover pending disposal of O.A. No. 4174/2023 before the Central Administrative Tribunal in the absence of any judicial order or stay directing such withholding, and whether Respondent No. 1 was required to forthwith declare the Petitioner's result.

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Court's answer

The Court saw no reason for the Petitioner's result to be kept in a sealed cover unless there is an order passed by a judicial authority to that effect; i.e., in the absence of any such judicial order, withholding the result in a sealed cover during pendency of the Tribunal proceedings was unjustified.

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Ratio / Principle

Respondent No. 1 (Union Public Service Commission) was directed to forthwith declare the result of the Petitioner.

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Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court (Anil Kshetarpal & Amit Mahajan, JJ.), W.P.(C) 1710/2026, decided 11.02.2026. The Petitioner sought (i) a writ of certiorari quashing the Order dated 29.12.2023 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, New Delhi in O.A. No. 4174/2023 (an application filed by Respondent No. 2 challenging cancellation of his candidature, in which the Tribunal had directed that selection of the last candidate shall be subject to the final outcome of the Original Application), and (ii) a writ of mandamus directing Respondent No. 1 (UPSC) to offer appointment to the Petitioner as selected candidate. The Court noted it was undisputed that there was no stay on declaration of the Petitioner's result and selection, yet the result had been kept in a sealed cover due to pendency of the Original Application. Holding that there was no reason to keep the result in sealed cover unless a judicial authority had so ordered, the Court directed Respondent No. 1 to forthwith declare the Petitioner's result and disposed of the petition along with the pending application (CM APPL. 8394/2026); the exemption application (CM APPL. 8393/2026) was separately allowed subject to all just exceptions.

¶1

$~66

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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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W.P.(C) 1710/2026

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REKHA GUPTA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Nishant Kumar, Mr. Anubhav Sharma, Mr. Gunjan Sharma and Mr. Vishal Majumdar, Advs.

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versus

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UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Mr. R.V. Sinha, Mr. A.S. Singh and Ms. Shriya Sharma, Advs. for UPSC.

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN O R D E R % 11.02.2026

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CM APPL. 8393/2026 [exemption from filing certified copies / originals / clear / true typed copies of documents / annexures]

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Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

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Application stands disposed of.

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W.P.(C) 1710/2026 & CM APPL. 8394/2026 [for permission to file the present Writ Petition]

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Through the present Writ Petition, the Petitioner prays as under:

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“A. Issue a Writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate Writ, Order or Direction quashing the impugned Order dated 29.12.2023 passed by the Ld Central Administrative Tribunal, New Delhi in OA No. 4174/2023;

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B. Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other Writ, Order or Direction thereby directing the Respondent No. 1 to offer appointment to the Petitioner being the selected candidate

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/02/2026 at 13:15:09

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along with all consequential reliefs;

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C. Pass any other order or further order(s) as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case .”

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Briefly stated, the Petitioner is aggrieved that his result has been withheld on account of impugned order dated 29.12.2023, passed in O.A. 4174/2023, which was filed by the Respondent No.2 challenging cancellation of his candidature. By way of the impugned order, the learned Central Administrative Tribunal directed that selection of the last candidate shall be subject to final outcome of the Original Application.

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It is undisputed that there is no stay on declaration of the Petitioner’s result and selection, however, for no rhyme or reason, the result of the Petitioner has been kept in a sealed cover due to pendency of the Original Application.

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We have heard the learned counsel representing the parties.

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We see no reason as to why the result of the Petitioner is being kept in a sealed cover unless there is an order passed by any judicial authority to this effect. Hence, Respondent No.1 is directed to forthwith declare the result of the Petitioner.

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In view of the above, the present petition along with the pending application is disposed of.

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ANIL KSHETARPAL, J

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AMIT MAHAJAN, J

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FEBRUARY 11, 2026 ‘KDK’

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/02/2026 at 13:15:09

Rekha Gupta v. Union Public Service Commission & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Rekha Gupta v. Union Public Service Commission & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Procedural history

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Coram

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